Kilkenny man Peter Funchion is among a batch of talented young players aiming to break the stranglehold at the top of elite Irish handball right now, but an excellent showing at the recent Tucson Pro-Stop where he reached the QF’s has given him a real boost ahead of this weekend’s Irish 4-Wall Adult Nationals in Mayo.
Funchion’s last outing in Ireland was at the Golden Gloves at the end of October where he fell in a Round of 16 encounter to Colin Crehan, having defeating Cork man Michael Hedigan in the First Round.
“Up at the Golden Gloves I felt really good and felt comfortable all weekend. I think in the end it was a lack of match practice that let me down but take nothing away from Colin, he is a really good competitor!”
“I was hoping to draw him again at the Nationals” he jokes!
The Kells man quickly put that loss to one side as he travelled stateside and quickly took out his two qualifying opponents Carlos Lemus & Marco Chavez in single figures to advance to the Elite Round of 16. There came is most eye-catching win defeating former US #1 Emmett Peixoto 15-5, 15-7.
“I definitely played well in the opening few games and I felt that the competitive action at the Golden Gloves really helped me to get tournament ready.”
In the QF’s though an Irish man on top of his game, Robbie McCarthy, stalled his progress, winning 15-4, 15-6. McCarthy eventually falling in the final to Killian Carroll having blitzed all before him en route.
“The body felt good despite it being my 4th match, but I am still trying to figure out why I didn’t perform against Robbie. But in fairness he is an excellent player and I think he will definitely be one to watch for the Worlds in the summer.”
Back home on Irish soil, he will face Ger Coonan in the first round of the Irish Nationals before a potential QF with Charlie Shanks.
“I played Ger in the Golden Gloves a few weeks back and he will be out for revenge no doubt and I will be expecting a tough game there. Last time I played Charlie he beat me in the 2015 Golden Gloves Final so I would like to get the opportunity to play him again and try to better my performance.”
It is early days in the 4-Wall season but Funchion admits he is enjoying playing the different players at the tournaments, learning new shots and improving his game.
“For training I generally play against my brother Patrick a lot. He knows my game inside out so when we train it’s always a good rattle! But it is a nice chance and a challenge to adapt to the variety of styles of the current crop of seniors at the tournaments.
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